Former Long Beach State volleyball standouts Scott-Arruda and Haneef-Park balance motherhood, pursuit of Olympic medals

They have Olympic medals at home, world championships on their resume and between them eight Olympic appearances, making former 49ers Danielle Scott-Arruda and Tayyiba Haneef-Park two of the most honored Olympians in Long Beach State history.

But ask them what their greatest accomplishment is and they'll reach into their bag and pull out baby pictures.

Both women were a part of the 2008 Olympic team that won a silver medal, and both women then took 2010 off to work on a bigger task - starting families.

On March 7 of 2010, the 6-foot-7 Tayyiba gave birth to Ajani Jamal Park, who checked in at a sizeable 9 pounds, 21 inches and perhaps will someday follow mom's path to a volleyball court. On April 17, the 6-2 Danielle welcomed Julianne Arruda into the world.

Tuesday, the two moms did the Disneyland thing, Danielle bringing Julieanne, several nieces and nephews and other family members while Tayyiba left her toddler at home and came with her dad, Mo, and his array of cameras for the park's official parade and sendoff for the U.S. Olympic volleyball teams. Spikes and digs were put aside as families took a ride on "It's A Small World" and let the kids play with Mickey and Minnie.

In Danielle's case, the biological clock was ticking on having a family with her husband Eduardo, a former volleyball player and coach from Brazil she met while playing there professionally.

"I really wanted a child," said the native of Baton Rouge and a middle blocker in the U.S. national program since 1994. She has two siblings and six nieces and nephews, so family was important to her.

"I think having and wanting my daughter at that time ... I wasn't worried if I could still play after having her, but wondered if I could come back at a high level.

"The idea of her seeing me play has been a motivation for me."

She rarely needs motivation to play. She is headed to play in her fifth Olympics, the first U.S. woman to do so in the sport and one of just three all-time, and she's open to the idea of a sixth.

She turns 40 in October, but doesn't feel her age. The 2016 Olympics are in Brazil, her husband's home and a place she loves. "I speak Portuguese fluently, so it would be great to be there, maybe as a coach if not a player."

She already has Olympic baggage stickers from Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and now London. That's four continents, leaving her three shy of a world traveler's grand slam. Brazil would give her five.

Tayyiba, 33, didn't want to wait any longer to have children with her husband Anthony Park, a U.S. Air Force pilot. She worried about what it would do to her physically knowing she was coming back for the 2012 Games, so she threw herself into private workouts after giving birth.

"I did the PX90, the `Insanity' DVDs, went to the gym on my own," she said. "I heard other women athletes say they felt stronger after having babies, which calmed my nerves a bit. The pain tolerance now is definitely higher."

Unlike Danielle, she's going to leave the sport after 2012.

"I'm done," she said. "I love it, but I love my son more and I want to be there with him through all the special moments."

Both women starred at Long Beach State before compiling accomplishments on the national team, and both have launched new off-court ventures besides their families.

Danielle, who has played several positions, was a three-time All-American at Long Beach State and in 1993 led the 49ers to the national title and was named national player of the year. She led the 49ers to the NCAA Final Four three times and had 1,778 career kills, 604 blocks and a .421 hit percentage; the blocks and hit percentage remain school records.

The 17 years on the national team have given her the chance to play in more than 40 major international events. In the 2008 Olympics, she averaged 2.17 kills and .57 blocks with a .549 hit rate. She had a team-high 15 blocks in the 2004 Games; 101 kills, 33 blocks and two digs in 2000; and moved into the starting lineup in the final matches of the '96 Olympics.

She's already started transitioning careers, going back to school to earn an advanced degree and has started a non-profit foundation that connects education, the arts and sports for children.

"Education is so important to me and I want to help kids reach those goals through arts and sports programs," she said.

Tayyiba, the lean outside hitter, came to the sport late and was a two-sport star at Long Beach as a volleyball player and track high jumper. She was a three-time All-American in the high jump - she finished 10th in the 2000 Olympic trials - but found her future on the volleyball court after earning All-American status in 2001, leading the 49ers to 33 consecutive wins before a NCAA title match loss to Stanford.

She started national team play in 2001 and became a starter the following year. She had 84 kills and six blocks in the 2004 Games, and averaged 2.73 kills per set and .40 blocks in 2008 Tayyiba is working on a master's in business in a U.S. Olympic Committee program with DeVry, with a goal of launching a new fashion line. "I've always sewed my own clothes and have made some things for my teammates," she said. "I think there's a market for good fashion for tall, athletic women."

The 2012 team is the first they've been on that is considered a strong gold medal candidate, so it would be very fashionable for the two 49ers to leave London with a gold medal.

And it'd be a nice trinket to add to the mobiles for Ajani and Julieanne.